The suspension of water charges was wrong and not in the public interest, acting Minister for Health Leo Varadkar said on Thursday.
Mr Varadkar, who is a member of the four-person Fine Gael negotiating team which acceded to a Fianna Fail request for a nine-month suspension of charges while a commission examines water charging models, said water charges were being suspended, not abolished.
“But it is the wrong thing to do. It’s not in the public interest to do this.”
Mr Varadkar said he supported water charges because a dedicated income stream was needed to upgrade water infrastructure and drive conservation.
Mr Varadkar said he had found Fianna Fáil’s focus on water during talks on the formation of a government “a bit surreal” and it was “ridiculous” that the country came to the brink of a second election on the issue.
It would have been “insane” to hold a second election on the issue of water charges, Mr Varadkar said.
Mr Varadkar said Fiánna Fail could have chosen a national health system or the abolition of the USC as the main issue. “But it all came down to water that costs less than €3 a week,” Mr Varadkar said.
He suggested politics rather than water policy may have been the true motivation for Fiánna Fail in pursuing a deal on water charges and he suggested this party was keen to extract an “embarrassing concession” with which to defend themselves against Sinn Féin.
"I'd rather fight an election on other issues than water. I think it would be insane to have an election on water," Mr Mr Varadkar said on RTE's Sean O'Rourke Show.
Collapse
Mr Varadkar conceded being in a minority government would be difficult for Fine Gael it would be an administration that Fiánna Fail or the Independents could collapse if they chose.
Mr Varadkar also said Enda Kenny’s leadership of Fine Gael was not in question.
Acting Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly has strongly criticised the Fine Gael-Fianna Fáil deal on water charges saying any suspension or abolition of water charges would be "political, economic and environmental sabotage".
Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said on Thursday the election had been about more than Irish Water and water charges.
He questioned the obsession with this issue during government formation talks when there were so many other important issues that needed to be addressed.
Mr Ryan suggested Fianna Fáil was fearful of losing votes to Sinn Féin on the issue.
“That’s not the way to shape the future.”
Mr Ryan said he would support the new government from opposition on a case-by-case basis.
“We need a government to tackle issues such as housing and homelessness, health, public transport.”
Mr Ryan said he hoped there would more constructive politics in the new Dáil and less attacking of the government.
